Testosterone: The Ultimate Guide for Men
The male sex hormone, testosterone, has a major impact on male health and performance. We've gathered everything you need to know about testosterone right here!
Miriam Johansen
• 8 min read
If you want to increase your muscle mass, keep reading to discover 5 great tips to build muscle fast.
You can't expect to look like a bodybuilder after a week at the gym. However, if you put in the effort the right way, you can actually build as much as 250 grams of pure muscle mass – just in one week.
So, what's the secret to gaining a little more muscle quickly?
You'll find it here.
If you follow these 5 tips, there's a high probability that your muscle mass will increase.
There are many good reasons to focus on building muscle. The obvious benefits are that you'll get stronger, increase your metabolism, and enjoy a more toned body.
Good musculature increases bone density, helps you maintain your weight, and reduces the risk of joint injuries. Muscles are not only important for looking fit but also for your bone structure. Additionally, muscles act as an engine that burns calories even when you're resting.
READ MORE: How to Increase Metabolism: 5 Powerful Tips
For every kilo of muscle you build in your body, you can expect to burn around 50 extra calories per day.
Being realistic means that you don't aim to gain too much muscle mass a week. Set a realistic goal. Factors that affect your muscle growth include:
So what do you do when you want to increase your muscle mass in one week?
In order for muscles to grow bigger and stronger, it's crucial that you supply the body with enough calories so that the body is not in a calorie deficit.
Let's say the goal is 227 grams of muscle growth during the first week. A general recommendation for success is to increase your daily calorie intake by 250 to 500 extra calories. But if you eat TOO much, the extra calories will build up on your body as fat.
If you want to build muscle, you shouldn't skip carbs, especially if you're training at high intensity. It's important to get enough carbohydrates after a workout to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles and liver.
Equally important is ensuring you get enough protein. Protein is crucial for muscle growth and repair.
According to Olympiatoppen, for high endurance training, you need 1.2-1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
If you do a lot of strength training, you may need as much as 1.5-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
Make sure to spread your protein intake throughout the day. It's easy to accidentally eat large amounts of protein all at once, but if your goal is to build muscle, you should distribute your protein intake evenly throughout the day.
Optimally, according to studies, you should eat around 20 grams of protein every 3-4 hours after a workout. In addition, it's worth eating extra protein before bedtime to avoid degradation during the night.
If you really want to see results with the "build muscle fast" project, you should aim for 90% of your food to consist of whole foods:
That is, foods that are as close to their natural form as possible.
Examples of whole foods are meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, legumes, fruit, rice and oats.
Around 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep every night is essential for increasing muscle mass. Most muscle growth and repair occur while you sleep.
When you do strength training such as weight lifting, small tears appear in the muscles as a result of mechanical pull and strain.
These muscle cells and tissues are repaired during sleep, which is important for your muscles to get bigger and stronger.
There is also a link between your testosterone levels and sleep. Testosterone is, as mentioned, an important hormone that stimulates the building of muscle mass.
The highest level of testosterone production occurs during REM sleep. In one study, it was found that 8 days of only 5.5 hours or less of sleep each night resulted in a reduction of testosterone.
In fact, the reduction was as much as 10-15% on average. The reason was that the participants in the study did not sleep long enough.
READ MORE: Workouts to Increase Testosterone
To get the most out of strength training, you should train with extra heavy weights (90% to 100% of your maximum), perform few repetitions, take long breaks, and use relatively explosive movements.
So-called multi-joint exercises engage several muscles at once, providing maximum benefit to large parts of the muscle mass simultaneously.
Examples of good exercises include the flat bench press, which works the pectoralis major muscle. As an isolation exercise, you can choose flyes, which also activate the upper chest muscle.
Good exercises to train your back are pull-ups, chin-ups and pull-downs. As an isolation exercise, bent-over or seated rowing are effective exercises.
A particularly effective exercise is the incline dumbbell press. You can also do lateral raises, either with dumbbells or cable.
Good exercises for stronger legs are squats, deadlifts, barbell lunges and machine leg presses.
If you want to build muscle, it's important to let your body recover well between each workout. As we've seen, you do this by getting enough sleep, taking good breaks between workouts, and eating enough and properly.
A supplement like 4HIM TestoBalance can also help your body replenish important nutrients.
Two daily capsules of 4HIM TestoBalance provide the body with zinc, which helps maintain normal testosterone levels in the blood, as well as magnesium and vitamin B6, which help reduce tiredness and fatigue. Magnesium contributes to normal energy metabolism, normal muscle function, and normal psychological function.
The male sex hormone, testosterone, has a major impact on male health and performance. We've gathered everything you need to know about testosterone right here!
Miriam Johansen
• 8 min read
Exercise is key to maintaining and increasing the body's testosterone levels throughout life. Here's how to exercise to boost testosterone.
Steinar Helgesen
• 7 min read
Low testosterone can cause fatigue, decreased sex drive and loss of muscle and bone mass. Here are 5 typical causes of low testosterone in men – and what you can do about it.
Miriam Johansen
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